A/N: I tried to update last night but the uploader was giving me fits. Hope you like it!
Chapter 14
"What have we got?" Elliot asked as he approached Munch and Fin at the crime scene. The body had been discovered out behind a gas station. The clerk had gone out there to throw out the garbage and got the shock of his life when he found a pair of feet sticking out in between the dumpsters.
"Shouldn't you be at home, resting?" The Sergeant gave him a look.
"I'm taking him there. This was on the way," the Captain spoke up. The scene was not on the way to Elliot's apartment but no one was going to argue with the leader of the unit.
"Well we got a bit of a surprise when we got here," Fin said.
"What do you mean?" Elliot was confused.
"The victim isn't a woman, but had he lived, he might have thought about becoming one," Munch said. By now, Elliot's and the Captain's eyebrows were raised. They both went to look at the victim.
"Good God," Elliot shook his head as he returned to Fin and Munch.
"So I guess our APB is now useless," Cragen said.
"Gentlemen, getting ahead of me are we?" Melinda asked.
"This one seems open and shut Doc," Munch frowned. The coroner gave him a look before heading for the body. She did a cursory examination and said,
"So I'm guessing you guys are involved because his family jewels got cut off."
"We're here because that is Charles Cray, our suspect," Cragen frowned.
"Ah so that explains that," she nodded.
"Damn. We're never going to catch his partner now," Fin shook his head.
"We have to hope that Liv's lead pans out. If not, then you're right. If he's careful when he rapes his victims then he had to be careful when killing his accomplice," Munch heaved a sigh.
"It's obvious that he didn't kill Charles here. There'd be more blood. So it's a dump job. With the van unable to be used, he had to kill him somewhere nearby," Elliot said.
"He's been dead for over two hours. If your guy was smart, he's long gone," Melinda told them, checking on the victim's liver temperature.
"Damn!" Elliot cursed.
"Security cameras! Fin, get the cameras from the gas station. Munch, go next door and see what the bank has. Maybe we'll get lucky," the Captain barked orders. Elliot looked around the scene. There had to be something there. Their suspect had to have screwed up somehow.
"Captain! Do you see what I see?" Elliot suddenly asked.
"What?" Cragen whirled around.
"The intersection in front of the gas station has a traffic camera!" Elliot pointed out.
"I'm making a call to TARU," the Captain quickly pulled out his cell phone and punched in the number they needed.
"Morales is on it. Now, I have to get you to your apartment. You aren't cleared for duty just yet. IAB is going to want to talk to you," Cragen told him.
"Let them find me at the precinct then. I'm not resting until this bastard is caught," Elliot said. The Captain wanted to argue but he knew that that would be useless.
"Fine, then you ride a desk and you even ask Kenny to get a tissue to blow your nose with, you got it?" The Captain gave him a look. Elliot just nodded, knowing that that was the best he could hope for until IAB had finished their investigation. Quickly, Cragen told Fin and Munch to bring all the footage they got to TARU and breathe down the tech's neck until they found something before heading back to the car with Elliot.
To Be Continued…